Lifting Heavy(ish) Things

Simple squat night.

2021-02-04T19:36:00.000-08:00

So tonight was dynamic effort squats. My squat numbers are no where what I'd like, but they'll get back there. Tonight we went quick, and the 45 minutes in and out showed it, in addition to the being so winded.

DE Squat 175 8x2

Leg Curls 100 3x8

Reverse Hypers 15, 12, 10

Cable Side Bends 60 pounds 35 reps each side.

Okay, fun rebegins...

2021-02-03T20:00:00.001-08:00

Okay, I'll go into detail as to why this hasn't been updated in forever, but mostly time off due to the pandemic, injuries/health issues. But we started back and tonight is the first night of trying out this program I've written up. So, just gonna be tossing numbers for now.

Shoulder Saver Bench Press 95x8, 135x6 200x5, 250x4, 320 6x1

Seated Overhead Triceps Extensions with a super mini band x15, x12 x10

Axel press 120 2x8, 90x8

Reverse Pec Deck-Rear Delt flies 100 for a burnout set of 25.

Almost perfect bench day....

2020-01-28T19:00:00.000-08:00

Holy shit, today was amazing. Everything about my bench set up felt 100% right and spot on. My arch was great, speed was great. Felt like I was moving the bar only 6 inches. Hell, might have been. Kept my shoulders super tight, upper back super tight, was pushing off my lats. Once I hit the half way point I realized I was almost done since I was going 45 seconds between sets and was upset that I was almost done. Anyway, I'll pop some numbers now...

Dynamic Effort bench. 135x10, 225 4x2, 275 4x2, 315 4x2

Banded triceps pressdowns, two mini bands 4 sets to get to 30 reps, one mini band 3 sets to get to 100 reps

Single band face pulls, mini band, 2 sets to get to 100 reps.

Finished up with a burn out on the triceps extension machine, 100 pounds x 53

Need to check my weight again at some point this week, but jeans are fitting well again, so that's a plus.

Sunday Squats

2020-01-26T20:07:00.001-08:00

Damn, today was fantastic, my back felt a little wonky going in, but I said screw it and went anyway and I'm damn glad I did. Squats felt really good. Just did doubles but went heavier than I've been going and was easily hitting my depth. I'll just throw some numbers....

Squats 145x10, 235 2x2, 245 2x2, 255 2x2, 265 2x2, 275 2x2.

Might actually throw an extra squat day in this upcoming week since this was the best they've felt.

Standing side bends with a pullup in between since I was at the cable machine anyway...

100 5x20 each side.

Foam rolled out my lower back just to be safe, then hit the other gym for the hydromassage. Damn good day.

Rack pulls and recovery...

2020-01-23T18:09:00.000-08:00

Today whipped my ass even though it wasn't too much as far as lifting goes. Was a pulling day, which I wasn't really looking forward to, I'm determined to get my back, uh... back, to where it was. Oscar Wilde like wordplay there folks. So today was rack pulls from the 2nd pins. Puts the bar just a tad bit below my knees, so was a good height to pull from. Ended up going decently heavy, for me currently at least, for six singles. After that finished up with some light pull throughs and some recovery work, foam rolling, stretching, and the hydro massage. To accomplish all this it required two gyms, fortunately, I go to two gyms and they're close. Only numbers I'm really going to post up is the pull throughs since the recovery stuff is hard to actually quantify, although, needed.

I did use the squat bar for the pulls since I need to get my callouses back, it absolutely obliterated my hands, but you know, worth it.

Rack Pulls 2nd Pin 145x8, 235x6, 325x3, 415x1, 505 6x1

Grip and biceps day

2020-01-21T21:01:00.001-08:00

Over the past year I've gotten into working my grip a lot more. It's been a huge amount of fun actually. Last Christmas me mum got me a sweet set of hand grippers so I've been using those a lot. Plus a lot of the stuff from Juji and Tom has taught me a lot of really fun new techniques, so a lot of my biceps and grip work kind of ends with a grip medley. I've gotten a lot stronger with my hammer curls, although I was feeling a bit off today after not training hammer curls or any biceps for the past few weeks. Anyways, gonna drop something that will resemble numbers below, if anyone actually reads this and has any questions I'll try to answer. Over all though not the most taxing day.

Hammer curls 20x15, 30x10, 40x8, 50x8, 60x6, 70x6, 80x4, 90x4, 100x1 my best with the 100s has been three reps but today was not a day to equal that.

Grip medle

First round hand grippers for a static hold, 100s for a count of 20, 150s for a count of 15, and 200s for a count of 10.

Hex dumbbell hold 25lb count of 45

Kettlebell blob hold, which I've nicknamed baby holds thanks to a meme, 20lb for a count of 30

Second round gripper reps 100x20, 150x15, 200x10

Hex dumbbell hold 25 count of 30

Baby holds 20 for a count of 30

Third round, gripper holds 200x10, 150x15, 100x30

Hex dumbbell 25 for 20 count

Baby holds 20 for a count of 15

Ended once again with the reverse slow pace treadmill, a little over 10 minutes, my basic method for how long I go is three songs on my gym mix playlist, so it'll generally be in the 10-15 minute range which is nice. Anyway, gonna post this crap now and actually post it up to Twitter and Facebook.

Gnite

We're back...

2020-01-21T06:07:00.001-08:00

Gotta start bringing this back so I can keep track of numbers. Been feeling decent lately after a myriad of injuries this past year. Feeling pretty strong lately just trying not to push my lower back too badly after the disc injury. Okay, anyway this will be for yesterday, but...

Dynamic effort bench 225 4x2, 275 3x2, 315 3x2

Tate Presses 50lb dumbbells 3x12

Face Pulls 80 3x12

Burn out of low to high cable flies 22.5 x 31

12 minutes of max incline, low speed backwards treadmill.... my ass was pumped after this, giggity.

Current weight 336.2

Probably some more detail starting with today's post.

On Sundays we deadlift apparently...

2019-03-24T20:51:00.001-07:00

So, I missed a couple of days last week because of exhaustion and being beat up from work and training. Did manage to bench 505 on Thursday, then Friday attempted to squat, that turned into no squatting at all and just doing grip work. Today was good as far as my lifts go, unfortunately my partner's back went a bit south when he went to pull 405. Hopefully it's not bad and heals quick. As for me, this was about the 3rd time I've pulled this year thanks to the lower back pull and a pulled rib cage. Decided I was going to go over 500 if even by a little, and I did. Thanks to the partner's pulled back we just did some grip work afterward. My goal for the year was going to be to add an inch to my forearms, right now I'm at 3/4th of an inch gained, so I'm way ahead of schedule. It's tapered off a bit the last few weeks though, but all is well. So here's some numbers.

Deadlift 135x10, 225x8, 315x1, 405x1, 505x1

Grip work consisted of... static hold with 200lb grippers, 30 reps each hand with the 150lb grippers, 15 pound hex dumbbell hold at finger tips, and 15 pound hex dumbbell hold with deep grip.

Probably just going to do a nice little hypertrophic bench day tomorrow, I'll do another heavy bench day on Thursday.

Oh yeah, before I put this one to bed, my weight today was 308.2. This is kinda odd for me. I'm .2 pounds away from not being in the superheavyweight class. My diet has been a lot better lately, which has been odd for me. Me and my partner joke around that if I'd stop drinking Mello Yello I'd drop 15 pounds in a week. Fucked up part is, it's probably not that much of a joke, but fuck it, I do love me some Mello Yello. Anyway... Meet is in 3 weeks, so just going to do bench only. We'll see how it goes.

Stay frosty...

Bench day, new incline PR

2019-03-17T16:24:00.002-07:00

So, gotta be up at 3am and Ambien is kicking in... so going to make this quick. Really good day after a pretty rough few days in a row at work. But eh, that happens. Hit 355 on incline, so that's a new PR by 5 pounds. Everything was feeling good. Shoulder felt a little wonky when we went to do burnouts with 225, that's why I stopped at 18. Anyway, lets drop some numbers...

Incline bench press 135x8, 185x6, 225x4, 315x1, 355x1

Overhead Grenade Cable Extensions 60x12, 70x12, 80x12, 90x10

Low to High Cable Flies 60 3x12

Benchpress burnout 225x18, like I said, shoulder felt wonky, so stopped there.

Anyway, off tomorrow since it's truck day, back with deadlifts on Tuesday.

Squats, my legs are killing me today...

2019-03-15T19:49:00.003-07:00

So yesterday we knocked out some squats. It was good, we kept time to a minimum between sets, basically just enough rest to reset for your next set of doubles. It was good, also through some half up full ups in. That was a bad idea, yet oh so good. Also a lot of grip work. So here's some numbers. Next week I'll try adding back the pithiness you've all grown accous...tired of.

Dynamic Effort Squats 135x8, 225 8x2

Half Up Full Up Squats 135 8 total reps

Leg Curl/Glute machine 175 2x6

Then the grip work with hand grippers, hex dumbbell holds, and static hangs. Was a good day.

Bench day, went dumb, happy I did.

2019-03-14T18:52:00.002-07:00

So posting this a day late thanks to a bit of a hectic personal schedule last night. Went pretty heavy with the Shoulder Saver bench, was glad I did. It felt really good, 405 moved like it was a speed rep, so that was nice. Anyway, lets drop some numbers...

Shoulder Saver Bench 135x10, 225x8, 315x6, 405x1, 455x1

Machine Bench Burn Out 190/175 31reps, dropped to 175, 16 reps

Overhead Grenade Cable Extension Burnout 50 47/45

Bench accessories...

2019-03-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Okay so, missed a few days last weeks thanks to the pulled ribcage. Couldn't even lay on a bench and that sucked. So today took it a bit easy, but my shoulders are thrashed right now. Anyway, some quick numbers.

Single arm landmines 45x8, 55x8, 65x8, 75x8

Seated Dumbbell Cleans 25 3x10

Double cable upright rows 37.5 3x15

Machine Triceps Presses, 100 3x15

Overhead Grenade Cable French Press 40x15, 50x43/47

Close Grip Bench

2019-03-03T15:27:00.002-08:00

Okay, completely exhausted and have to be at work at 4am, so today will be quick.

Close Grip Bench 135x8, 185x6, 225x6, 275x6, 315x4, 365x0 Was not pleased with failing that last one, but I was pretty dead at the gym too.

Long Bar Two Pulley Pressdowns 47.5 4x15

Grenade Grip Cable French Press 22.5x20, 27.5x20, 32.5x25

Okay, speed pulls tomorrow if I don't pass out as soon as I get home from work.

Deadlifts return....

2019-03-01T19:02:00.000-08:00

So, last time I did a deadlift variation was 12/27, shortly after the first of the year was when I threw my back out. It's finally felt good enough to attempt to pull again. It was really pretty good, also did a new rep pr on chinups. So that was good too. Had to tighten my belt, I use a lever belt so it requires some work to do. So that's also a bit unexpected/nice. Anyway, lets drop some numbers...

Deadlifts 135x8, 225x6, 315x3, 405x1, 500x1, 500x0 Went for it a second time, my belt was digging into me too much and not using chalk was creating some issues. Think I'll be good next week for more than one.

Chinups 30 reps, sets of... 13/11/6

Then a lot of grip working using 200/150 hand grippers.

Damn good day.

Dynamic effort bench...

2019-02-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Gotta knock this out in 15 minutes... So today wasn't good, like my lifts were good, but I just wasn't feeling it today. It's not that the weight felt heavy or anything, just wasn't vibing at the gym today. Anyway, did DE bench with paused reps on my doubles. Everything felt good and went up smooth... like I said, just kind of an off day. Could be personal crap, but eh...

Numbers time...

DE Bench 135x10, 225x8, 315 8x2

Tricep Pressdowns 120 4x12

Flat Dumbbell Bench 100 2x6, 1x12

Squats a day late too...

2019-02-27T19:23:00.002-08:00

So yeah, another day late post. Seems to be a habit this week. Had to be at work at 4am today and my Ambien kicked in harder than I had expected last night, so wasn't coherent enough to write anything out. Yesterday was squat day, it was really good. We were firing out the squats so fast and with such explosiveness we just just stayed with 225. Felt really good. Anyway, some quick numbers...

Squats 135x8, 225 8x2

Leg Curl/Glute Thingy 175 4x6

Seated Calf Raises 115x12, 165x12, 255x10

About treefiddy...

2019-02-25T19:07:00.000-08:00

So posting this a day late. Long story, that's probably more interesting, but that's for another day. Good day at the gym. Attempted 350 on incline. Had to have a slight bump at a sticking point, but other than that it was pretty good. I'm exploding off my chest really well which is nice. Anyway, some numbers...

Incline Bench 135x10, 185x8, 225x6, 315x1, 350x1

Duffins 60 4x12

Pec Deck 160 1x20 (was causing some shoulder issues)

JM/Tate burnout 35lb dumbbells 40/25/15

Shoulders are stupid and need to be punished...

2019-02-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

So, the unfortunate part of my partner having that doctor's appointment meant we didn't get the day off after bench and squats since today was scheduled to be a bench day as well. Made it more shoulder based, and I gotta tell ya, that was still a bad idea since we did those heavy inclines 48 hours ago. Did some overhead pressing with the swiss bar, which felt awkward but really good. Also we did do some bench just because earlier in text. Anyway, some numbers...

Swiss Bar OHP 95x10, 135x8, 155x3, 175x3, 185x1 Really need to do some more work with overhead stuff to improve those numbers.

Double Handle Triceps Pressdown 47.5 5x15

Bench Press 315x3

Cable Grenade Tate Presses 40x12, 50x12, 60x12, 70x10

Squatting fun...

2019-02-20T20:07:00.003-08:00

So, today was squat day. It was a pretty solid day. My second to last set on squats I felt a little shaky on. However, my last set was really smooth, got deeper in the hole(giggity), and exploded more coming up even though I had went up 10 pounds. So that was solid. Also, damn, opened that bottle of Inhale over a week ago and it still kicks like a horse. Anyway, funny thing, first accessory was the leg curl that kinda works as glute exercise too. My partner noticed his sticking point in the squat, so I was like gotta get your hamstring and hips hitting a little better so we'll do these and we're going to do them heavy. I said we'll do 4 sets of 6 with the stack. He said "I don't think we can do the stack on this." I say "Pfft, we've done it before." So I throw the stack on, slide over the 10 pounds of add on weights making it 260, lock myself in, go to hit it, it doesn't budge. So I was like "Okay, lets drop this down to 220" Go give it hell... doesn't budge. "you do realize this is the leg curl and not the leg extension" To which I reply "Dude, I told you we can't do the stack on the leg curl, it's the leg extension we do the stack on." So I get called an asshole because of that. Anyway, had to have a slight rest before actually did my first set, because if it doesn't budge, that doesn't mean I'm not going to give it hell attempting to make it budge. Went decently heavy on calf raises too. I'll feel that tomorrow. Anyway, I've rambled. I'll drop some numbers now.

Squats 135x8, 225 4x2, 315 2x2, 325 1x1, 335 1x1

Leg Curl/Glute thingy 200 4x6

Seated Calf Raises 205x15 255 2x12

Had to go to the doc for my bi-yearly blood work this morning. Weighed in at 306.2 So right now I'm the lowest I've been in a decade. Also, not in the SHW class at the moment. Which is a good place to be since I could do either depending on if I maintain this weight and have a big meal or dehydrate and sorry for getting graphic here, but take a huge crap before weigh ins. Anyway, enough rambling tonight.

I'm back! Well, chest, but back still....

2019-02-19T19:01:00.001-08:00

Okay, took a few much needed consecutive days off from the gym. Between work and the amount of training I've been putting in, I was beat all to hell, fortunately my partner was too, so he needed it as well. Today kicked ass, we had an extra day off thanks to him having a doctor's appointment he'd forgotten about yesterday. So anyway... today, new PR on inclines. Probably had another 15 pounds in me, which was nice. But hit the PR and decided to stop there. Next time, we add a few more pounds on it. Partner also hit 250 on inclines which was a PR for him too. Also tried an exercise I saw Chris Duffin do, it's kind of like a clean, coupled with an upright row and face pull. No idea what they're called, so for purposes of logging, they will be called Duffins by me. Anyway, lets drop some numbers...

Incline Bench Press 135x8, 185x6, 225x6, 315x1, 335x1

Machine Triceps 120 3x15

Duffins 40x12, 60 3x12

Chinups 1x10

On about chinup 5 I decided to see if I could be showy and ungrip/regrip during it. Yes, yes I can.

Anyway, squats tomorrow.

Back day, I'm beat...

2019-02-11T20:04:00.000-08:00

Long story short, I'm beat up. Bad, not injured, just really beat up. In the span of 8 days had 3 heavy bench days. At work we did a pretty huge floor reset. So we've been having to match the warehouse to match the floor reset for replenishment(where we restock stuff that was sold the previous day). That has basically required moving every item in every bin. Plus having a pretty big truck this past Thursday, and yeah, my shoulders are hurting, my back has a tightness that isn't going away. Long story short, I can really tell I'm prepping for a meet/meets. If all goes according to plan, I'll do a couple a few weeks apart. Because of throwing my back out a few weeks ago and the tightness that isn't wanting to go away I haven't been able to pull like I'd like, so those might turn into bench only. That's why I've had so many heavy bench days. So today, we get in, and my partner is pretty beat up too, so we didn't wanna be there today, but we pushed through as best we could. We're also going to just three days this week, so we can have 4 days in a row off. That will be nice. Anyway... lets drop some numbers...

Plate Loaded Machine Rows 70x8, 115x8, 160x8, 205x8, 250x16

Chinups sets of 11, 5, 2

Straight arm pulldowns 37.5x40

So, the new bottle of Inhale came in, and my partner gave me such a hard hit before I did my final set of rows I just kept repping because I didn't wanna focus on how much fire was in my sinuses. It was also the first time he's ever hit a fresh bottle. He decided to wait a week before doing it again. Anyway, squats on Wednesday.

Quick bench day update....

2019-02-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

Work at 4am, so I'm crashing soon. Just need to post an update here. Today was good but I'm really feeling beat up. Benched heavy again. Need a couple of dynamic effort days to take some pressure off. But anyway... quick numbers...

Shoulder Saver Bench 135x10, 225x6, 315x3, 365x1, 405x1

Low to High Cable Flies 40 3x15

Pec Dec 190 2x15, 145x63. Had to make my partner work. He did well....

Back tomorrow, bed now.

Squats/Grip

2019-02-08T20:19:00.001-08:00

Today was really good. Had a guy from the gym work in with us on squats. He's a damn strong squatter too so it helped push us. Always a good thing. Back, knees, and hips all felt good today. Did a lot of grip work at the end. My forearms felt like they were going to explode after the grip work. So that's a plus. Really wanting to get another inch on my forearms. Anyway, gonna drop some numbers then sleep.

Squats 135x8, 225 4x2, 275 2x2, 315 2x2

Leg Curls 130x10, 160x10, 190x10, 215x10

Then we did some static holds with the grips and some rep work.

Two days of grip work this week, one next, then no grip work the next. Not wanting to develop tendinitis, so kinda running 2/1/2/1/off cycle with them. Not to say we don't train grip just by doing some of our stuff, just no direct grip work. Anyway, off tomorrow, bench Sunday!

Yesterday's bench day...

2019-02-07T19:06:00.002-08:00

So, last night my hands were too shaky to attempt to type. So I'm posting this today. Yesterday was a hard assed day at the gym. Went over 500 on bench. Did a pretty huge burnout. Ended up going to Zaxby's after, my original plan was to go in the grocery store beside my gym and pick up something there, however, I felt like if I had walked much more I would have hurled. So yeah, it was a good day. Grinded out that 505, had issues on the first attempt and reracked it because of a bad break, waited maybe a minute before I reset. So that was quicker than I would have attempted. Aside from that it was a good day. Some quick numbers...

Bench press 135x10, 225x8, 315x3, 405x1, 505x1

Burn out benchpress 225x39

Squats tomorrow if I'm recovered. Hopefully I will be.

Bad/Good back day...

2019-02-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

Man, I did not feel like lifting when I got to the gym today. Fortunately it turned out to be a pretty good day. Going up in weight on the seated one armed rows everything felt heavy until I got to 5 plates on it. Then I hammered that one out. Did some grip work and that was good too. Best part my partner making a joke to Gerry when we were flat out done about me being able to do chinups and him thinking he was joking. Then I did eight and the look on his face was amazing. Anyway, I'll drop some numbers... not really looking forward to tomorrow, but at least it's bench day, and bench shirt day. So I guess I've got that going for me...

Seated One Arm Rows 70x8, 115x8, 160x8, 205x8, 250x10

Straight Arm Pull Downs(single pulley) 30x20, 40x18, 50x15, 60x12, 70x10

Face Pulls 50 5x10

Grip Work

8 Chinups